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Originally Posted by papillon

7-9 that's my prediction, definitely a rebuilding year regardless of what Colbert is telling us. The bad news is the following year will be rebuilding as well as the Steelers say good bye to Keisel, Taylor, Clark and Polamalu in all likelihood. It could be a rough few years for the fans.

Pappy

[/QUOTE]

As long as Ben is upright and healthy this team can win any game it plays. The 2009 December 37 - 36 shootout with Green Bay where BBR threw for 509 and outdeueled Rodgers is exhibit A. As fans, I think we tend to fall into the same trap as every talking head on every TV network that does a pre - season prediction special, in that we think that past performances are absolutely predictive of future results. The team played terrible football in September and down the stretch last year. If that team shows up this year, I think 7 - 9 is generous. They played like a Super Bowl contender on the mid season win streak... if that team shows up in December and January this year, we go deep into the playoffs.

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Predicting us to be WINLESS IN OUR OWN DIVISION is a bit harsh, dontcha think, Pap?

Forced patriotism is an oxymoron.

A government leader proclaiming that citizens have to stand proudly for the National Anthem or else they shouldn't be in the country sounds more like a mandated decree from a totalitarian dictator like Kim Jong Un rather than the leader of the Free World.

Our ability to peacefully protest is a fundamental American right, and any attempt by our government to squash this freedom is what is truly dishonoring the liberty that our Star Spangled Banner symbolizes.

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Originally Posted by B&GinNC

As long as Ben is upright and healthy this team can win any game it plays. The 2009 December 37 - 36 shootout with Green Bay where BBR threw for 509 and outdeueled Rodgers is exhibit A. As fans, I think we tend to fall into the same trap as every talking head on every TV network that does a pre - season prediction special, in that we think that past performances are absolutely predictive of future results. The team played terrible football in September and down the stretch last year. If that team shows up this year, I think 7 - 9 is generous. They played like a Super Bowl contender on the mid season win streak... if that team shows up in December and January this year, we go deep into the playoffs.

My predictions were with Ben upright and healthy. IMO, the Steelers have lost too many pieces to an offense that was average at best. The defense is still old and continuing to age. For all the talk of getting younger the Steelers may have gotten younger, but it was at the expense of already young players. Harrison and Hampton are the only two vets to be released and/or not offered a contract that you would consider "old".

I just don't believe that Ben can bail out the offense like he could when he was younger. His ability to make gold out of straw will diminish with age as well. Unfortunately, what I see is last year may have been the final run at the playoffs with Ben in his prime. By the time the team retools, rebuilds or transitions whichever description you like, Ben will be in the twilight of a HOF career and not the prime.

Maybe they will catch lightning in a bottle in this year's draft, but the drafts since 2007 do not indicate that will be the case. There is nothing left from the 2008 draft and only two players remain from the 2009 draft (this may be Hood's final year). These two drafts should be the core of the team this year and there are only two remaining players on the roster. We won't know about last year's draft (which appears good right now) for a year or two. 2010 looks okay, Brown, Pouncey, Sanders performing well, Worilds gets his chance this year and the others had opportunities and didn't take advantage of them. It appears that Cortez Allen is a player, but Heyward and Gilbert have yet to prove their worth and the others from 2011 are insignificant.

If you live by the draft, you die by the draft and that's what appears to be happening as players are not developing as expected or they get to their second contract and the Steelers can't afford them or they just simply don't want to be a Steeler. It's going to be a long stretch of 32 games over the two years, IMO.

Pappy

Last edited by papillon; 04-19-2013 at 08:48 AM.

The referee said that you hit Brian Sipe too hard. Did you hit him too hard?
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I don't like early bye weeks, but it may give Miller another week to get healthier. I predict he goes on the 8-week PUP and I'm pretty sure the bye week doesn't count as one of those weeks, but its still another week for him to heal.

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Originally Posted by feltdizz

it's crazy... this smells of lowballing.

We beat the Rats with Charlie freaking Batch... no way we go 0-6 in the division.

I just don't think the Steelers are going to be a consistently good football team. When I went through the list I wasn't intentionally having them lose all the games in the division, but I believe that 7-9 is their ceiling. If they go 2-4 or 3-3 in the division then they'll find ways to lose three other games that I have marked as a "W". Inconsistency plagued them last year and I haven't seen anything that indicates it will get better this year. They'll be replacing NFL starters with rookies or NFL backups at key offensive positions.

The defense will be okay, but with very few splash plays to help the offense gain a short field. Then there's the always exciting Steeler special teams. Unless a couple rookies come in and knock it out of the park on special teams they'll probably remain the same as this past year, inconsistent.

Inconsistent teams end up somewhere between 7-9 and 9-7, bad teams 6-10 or worse and good teams 10-6 or better. I'd love for someone to show me the area of the team that has improved form an average 8-8 team that will propel them to 9-7 or 10-6.

I may have the wins and losses wrong, but I think 7-9 is their ceiling and hoping for a miracle to be better.

Pappy

The referee said that you hit Brian Sipe too hard. Did you hit him too hard?
I hit him as hard as I could - Jack Lambert

7-9 that's my prediction, definitely a rebuilding year regardless of what Colbert is telling us. The bad news is the following year will be rebuilding as well as the Steelers say good bye to Keisel, Taylor, Clark and Polamalu in all likelihood. It could be a rough few years for the fans.

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Originally Posted by papillon

I just don't think the Steelers are going to be a consistently good football team. When I went through the list I wasn't intentionally having them lose all the games in the division, but I believe that 7-9 is their ceiling. If they go 2-4 or 3-3 in the division then they'll find ways to lose three other games that I have marked as a "W". Inconsistency plagued them last year and I haven't seen anything that indicates it will get better this year. They'll be replacing NFL starters with rookies or NFL backups at key offensive positions.

The defense will be okay, but with very few splash plays to help the offense gain a short field. Then there's the always exciting Steeler special teams. Unless a couple rookies come in and knock it out of the park on special teams they'll probably remain the same as this past year, inconsistent.

Inconsistent teams end up somewhere between 7-9 and 9-7, bad teams 6-10 or worse and good teams 10-6 or better. I'd love for someone to show me the area of the team that has improved form an average 8-8 team that will propel them to 9-7 or 10-6.

I may have the wins and losses wrong, but I think 7-9 is their ceiling and hoping for a miracle to be better.

Pappy

I'm not agreeing with the doom and gloom, and I doubt this team is going to lose every division game... The truth is, at this point, no one knows how the final roster is going to look. And by the same token we don't know who (or if) is going to step up and replace the production of Wallace, Harrison and Lewis... because for me these are the areas of concern. I think that Lewis is the toughest one to replace from last year; he was solid at knocking down passes. Sure Wallace had a couple of home runs last year, but he also did his share of helping to stop drives. Harrison was MIA till the end of the season and we had no Troy. But the defense still did very well. Add a stud WR and RB and let Ben do his thing. Heaths production is going to be missed until he comes back... Paulson will get his shot to show what he has...

I wouldn't jump the gun till we see what the roster shapes up to be. If we have a lot of youth as starters I could see some growing pains. But the other way to look at it is, we bring in some dynamic young guys to the mix, and with Ben back there we have as good a chance as anyone in our division.